.hack//SIGN-Ups

[Menarker]

Oh, it's more like they are like one sided gauntlet with extra plating on the side, not just covering the arm, with some row of blades running along the other side. Both look the same. Darker green than his armor. (Although I didn't include it in the following pic)



Something a bit like this viewed from the top. Sorry for my crappy art.

[Lithp]

Edit: Kinda looks more like a claw than a shield to me, but it's really a trivial difference, so assuming you don't have anything to put in "Other," everything appears to be in order.

Alright, I like the .Hack series a lot, so I'll say that I'm interested in a game set in the World.

Hot damn.

But, I can't say I'll sign up yet.

Cold ascent.

So, if you don't mind, I've a bunch of questions.

I'm scared.

1) Is the game going to be freeform, or stated? *Snip.*

Actually, I don't understand the question.

2) Related to the previous question, why did you pick R:1 classes instead of R:2?

I hate the entire idea of GU, so I never really got into it. I will say, that from what I looked at coming to this decision, I did like some of the classes. However, there were also a few problems with them. For example, the theoretical advantage to having a Long Arm character is the range of the spear. If there are gunners & bowmen, it renders that obsolete, along with a lot of the magic because part of the purpose of .hack's magic was to hit enemies that were fast of far away. Plus, the idea of gunners & such is one of the things that damages the "feel" of the original .hack franchise. Thus, it basically amounts to personal preference.

3) Spells and Skills in .Hack changed whenever your equipment changed.

I've been meditating on this. I'm still not done, but here's what I have so far: The weapon you have will stick with you for the RP but can be modified later on. This means that people don't have to come back & edit the inventory over 9000 times. Learning spells will be accomplished via installation books. For example, a Vak (fire) book will teach the level 1 Vak Zot, Don, Kruz, & Rom spells (summons being handled separately). In addition to casting spells, the player will also be able to channel the element through the weapon for certain attacks.

4) How are Wavemaster spells and Twin Blade spells different?

Oh shit. I'll have to get back to you on this one.

5) Similar question, since this is an MMO, not real life, how will damage be handled/depicted?

I suppose that the character model would reflect the damage, so there would still be "injuries." There will probably also be some kind of "Critical Health" warning.

6) What exactly is the game's premise?

This is difficult, because I can understand why someone would want to have this clarified, but I want to have the situation become apparent a bit more gradually.

7) Speaking of fields, those are randomly generated areas in .Hack and basically composed of the same room, repeated over and over again. How will you handle them?

Thinking on that, perhaps that will be how I treat to warping to generic element fields, but I'll cook up original areas for ones I assign Key Words to.

8) Similar question, items, money and treasure were all pretty big components of .Hack. What are you going to do with that stuff?

Items & scrolls will probably return. Money & treasure will probably go towards buying things I shoehorn into the new system, like weapon upgrades or installation books.

9) Not exactly a question, you've used a lot of terms from the .Hack game in the set up, and haven't explained much of it.

I don't know, I figured that most of it was self-explanatory. For example, someone going "What the fuck is a Long Arm?" would probably see that they use spears & go, "Oh." What would you suggest?

For instance, a list of simple translations of the spells words (spells are cast by stringing together a handful of words) would help a lot.

I'll have that when I put the magic up.

[Lithp]

Some updates:

1) I've asked somebody what this means. I would say, yes, it is a mixture. There are a definite number of spells that can be used, with definite effects, but weapons, for instance, are you do whatever, provided that it would actually work (no throwing a knife like a bullet, for instance).

4) I guess they would just be stronger. This could be visually represented, but that's a bit difficult, since the difference between pebbles & boulders is more the difference between Gan Rom & Gan Rom II, or whatever it was called, as opposed to 2 different characters using Gan Rom.

As for how it can be competed against, firstly, a Level 20 Twin Blade is going to be more powerful in terms of magic than a Level 1 Wavemaster. Against 2 equally powerful characters with base level stats? Yeah, the Wavemaster is always going to be stronger in terms of magic. There's no avoiding that. But you could compete with it by...using physical attacks? Maybe boosting your magic, if you have the spell for it.

This, naturally, is going to bring up the question of levels. I suppose that forces me to do them. I guess I'll just have to have people level up in-game.

[Teal Mage]

Right, I've been a little busy so I haven't replied until now.

Originally Posted by Lithp

For example, the theoretical advantage to having a Long Arm character is the range of the spear. If there are gunners & bowmen, it renders that obsolete, along with a lot of the magic because part of the purpose of .hack's magic was to hit enemies that were fast of far away.

A cautionary note, reach is a surprisingly small concern in most RPs. In addition, it could very easily become overpowered, depending on how strong an attribute that is.

Also should be noted that a common application of spears and staves is spinning them really fast to block projectiles. In RPs, I mean.

Anyway, in regards to Steam Gunners, their bullets seemed more like blasts of magic than actual, uh, bullets. Strong force, but little actual damage. A lot of their basic attacks were hitting people with their guns too - in a lot of ways, they were just mages in different shoes.

But, what I'm really trying to say is that, as a GM, you do have a right to pick and chose which elements of a game you bring into play.

The weapon you have will stick with you for the RP but can be modified later on. Learning spells will be accomplished via installation books. In addition to casting spells, the player will also be able to channel the element through the weapon for certain attacks.

So, the weapons don't give us skills, books bought in shops do?

Instead of putting a system of actual monetary exchange, it would probably be simpler for you to say something like "As a reward for this mission, you can either get a new spell, a weapon upgrade or X number of items."

Originally Posted by Lithp

This, naturally, is going to bring up the question of levels. I suppose that forces me to do them. I guess I'll just have to have people level up in-game.

To be honest, levels are really more trouble than they're worth. Personally? I don't like them - they always seemed too rigid and confining to me. Probably wouldn't be able to play a game with such strict measures of strength. Other people are probably cool with that idea, but I’m afraid I’m not.

What would you suggest?

Assume that people know nothing about the game and are stupid when you write the set-up? Also that you're basically describing an entire world, so, there's probably a lot of things that need elaborating on. Like how magic works, cities of note, what people are like, if there's more than one race, notable organizations, how the game itself will be structured, etc.

...there's a lot of stuff that needs to go into the Set-Up, and it usually takes a lot of work to make the first post.

[Lithp]

Instead of putting a system of actual monetary exchange, it would probably be simpler for you to say something like "As a reward for this mission, you can either get a new spell, a weapon upgrade or X number of items."

You do have a point. If I have money, that means I have to make a shop. Since this isn't like on Dego's, all of that crap will have to go into the OP.

...there's a lot of stuff that needs to go into the Set-Up, and it usually takes a lot of work to make the first post.

Well, a lot of this stuff is going to be introduced in-game, like a game would usually do.

Other people are probably cool with that idea, but I’m afraid I’m not.

I don't like them either, but I feel as though my hand's pretty much been forced here. If someone joins a few weeks down the line after a lot of major action has occurred, there has to be something to balance things out, doesn't there?

[Teal Mage]

Originally Posted by Lithp

I don't like them either, but I feel as though my hand's pretty much been forced here. If someone joins a few weeks down the line after a lot of major action has occurred, there has to be something to balance things out, doesn't there?

Not really, a more fluid freeform system would make the playing field pretty even. Just give them a handful of abilities to start with and then they'd be on equal footing. 'Levels' strictly speaking might just reflect how many skills a player has access to.

As it happens, in GU, players learned abilities as they levelled up.

I mean, your job would be easier if you only had to design the skills, right?

Only problem might be HP, but in a freeform system, that would just be analogous to the damage characters take. They could die in one hit, conceivably, unless you added something like "It takes X amount of fatal hits to kill you" or something.

SP might have similar concerns, but in a system where magic is so limited, it probably wouldn't be a big problem; not really.

[Lithp]

Levels & SP would be sort of a general thing. Usually, with this kind of system, the OP takes into account the loose guidelines (level & SP, in this case) & makes decisions regarding them. For example, how much damage an attack of a character's should do depending on their class & level, or how quickly SP is run out of.

SP is tricky, though, since unlike FF's MP, it regenerates over time.

I find that .hack usually works, there are just a lot of details that need to be hammered out.

[Teal Mage]

I've read your last post several times now, and I still can barely make heads or tails of it to be honest.

What I did get out of it was that there would be levels and SP, and both would matter. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that kind of game just isn't for me; would feel too much like a tabletop and I've never liked those.

Too bad really, I like the .Hack world. Oh well, good luck with the system design, sounds like there's a bunch of bugs you haven't quite straightened out. I'll check back to look at the finished product, if only out of curiousity.

[Lithp]

I would honestly recommend trying it if you like .hack. It couldn't hurt anything.

Now, people, don't hold back. I've only got 1 attempted/accepted character so far.

[Lithp]

Aw, shit, I'd really hate to start under these conditions, but I guess I have no choice. I'll just have to hope that it picks up momentum after a little while.

I have a few things to add to the OP, then I'll edit this post to include my own sign-up (I wonder if I'll get accepted?[/lame joke]), & then I can start the game.